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Early show: Dark Star> St. Stephen> The Eleven> Turn On Your Love Light Late show: Cryptical Envelopment> Drums> The Other One> Cryptical Envelopment> Death Don't Have No Mercy, Alligator> Drums> Drummers' Chant> Jam> China Cat Jam> Jam> Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)> Feedback> And We Bid You Good Night

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Reviewer: doug_the_dude - - February 7, 2013
Subject: --
I'm reeling here, having just heard for the first time this set. The early show is working-horse good, impossible to really criticize what they play, but compared to this electric monster it's almost tame. This thing is sheer madness!

They miss the initial windup on the Other One, which, when "blown", can sometimes leave a gaping sort of empty space where you expect Phil to drop that bomb - however, just listen to how they go with where they then are - Jerry takes the Cryptical reprise out for a long, long, LONG walk - just when you think they're going to dissolve the thing into a feedback space Jerry brings in that high-note, weeping-angel coda we all came to love with '69.

And *caution* on that Caution! Phil is absolutely out of control when they really drive the back end of that jam - ay caramba, kids!

Reviewer: njpg - - February 7, 2012
Subject: The perfect '69 show.
Incredible Alligator suite. Beyond belief.

Reviewer: clementinescaboose - - November 3, 2010
Subject: Revised 11/3/10
i've spent so much time with this show over the past few months, it's like my kid. seriously, this is one of the finest examples of 1969 Grateful Dead i can think of.

Things quickly get to a rousing start with what surely must be one the most utterly unstoppable versions of That's It For the Other One ever played. It's like roaring avalanche or a collapsing dam exploding with tsunami waters - i like Chris U's description the best haha. The sheer balls of this version in the 1st half of TOO will convert anyone who feels this a band for wimps...

Things only get better with a transcendent version of Alligator that, dare i say, after many repeated listens, makes a case for the better of 2/28/69. i leave you to judge for yourself. like i said in the previous review, the transition into China Cat from seemingly out of NOWHERE is priceless! following this is a beautiful jamming excursion lead by some of Garica's most creative and emotionally engaging playing i've yet to hear. the jam ends with a lilting duet between him and the drummers. things come to a roaring conclusion with a fine, fine version of Caution.

well enough hype, listen to this show, or suffer the consequences!

Reviewer: gphishmon - - January 30, 2010
Subject: First time they played my home town
so this date holds a special place in my heart. That and the show is ripping, but isn't that true of almost every show from 68-69 (with the notable exceptions of Woodstock, some of the Hartbeats shows, and the Bobby Ace show)? The Other One>Cryptical is solid, though not quite up there with 10/13/68, 2/28/69, or 5/2/70, which are my current top three. But definitely check out the jam following the drums. There's a vocal jam at the beginning that had to be very rare for the Dead.

The sound is more than listenable.

I believe the Dead were the headliners for this show, which wasn't always the case during their East Coast runs that year. When they were the opening act, the jams tended to be very short, compressed into the time available. A notorious example of this would be 2-11-69 when they opened for Janis Joplin at the Fillmore East. Here, the jams seem more fully realized, though not as much as they would be during the famous Fillmore West run.

Reviewer: williscat2000 - - January 1, 2006
Subject: second set better than first
good show, decent sound. Didn't think bob was particularly strong in his playing this night.

Reviewer: dr. flashback - - September 25, 2005
Subject: Dosed Again !
Uhh oh! This show is unavailable. I hope that doesn't mean what I'm afraid it means. Well maybe it's just "resting". Hello Polly, wake up Polly!! Are you "pining for the fiords" or are you a Dead parrot? Sorry, my Monty Python brain kicked in.
Although the early show is good, the late show is usually better, as is the case here. Garcia soars up into the stratosphere on the Other One, while Phil plays a counter theme to everything Jerry does. What a HOT version!! The following Cryptical is long and starts off with a mellow shuffle jam, building to a
thundering conclusion. Jerry's style and tone are just pure acid-drenched 69 to the max. If you're not on the bus by now, check your pulse!
This version of Death Don't reaches into depths of the passion and soul of the blues in ways that even Cream I dare say, could not. At over 9 minutes, they take their time. Jerry begins almost at a whisper, then proceeds to make the guitar crawl, walk and talk, sing like Aretha Franklin and just flat out WAIL!
Then Pig delivers another stellar Alligator. Listen for the China Cat theme briefly during the Jam. By track #10, they extend the Jam to include a nice Phil solo and some serious Jerry pyrotechnics. And yet there's more! The band explodes (yes, explodes!) into the Caution Jam - fast and furious as Pig and the boys lay the mojo on your brain. Jeeesuz how can they play that fast?? And the Feedback unleashes all the little sound gremlins that take you all the way to the 4th dimension. Like good sex, you'll want a cigarette after this show!! Highly recommended and a real 1969 classic.
enjoy,
Dr. Flashback :-)

Reviewer: Chris U. - - June 21, 2005
Subject: AH HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!
Yeah this is pretty fxcking good folks.

There is more LSD dripping out of Garcia's guitar in the first 5 minutes of this Other One than there was dropped or manufactured by anyone who saw or heard the band during the entire period 1975-whenever.

There, I said it.

Reviewer: Jimi @ Holy Grail Studios - - April 23, 2005
Subject: Killer performance ,O.K. audio.
This is an exceptional performance from one of my favorite years.Cryptical> Other One is worth the download time alone.This is a off the meter high energy performance with Jerry full on through the entire set.Relentless!
However,the audio is so compressed eq'ing is almost impossible and because the master was a cass. as opposed to a reel the hiss is extra loud.But all the instruments and vocals are better than audible.The mix is good considering the above .
5 for the performance 3.5 for sound.A solid 4 overall.

Reviewer: Havergill Milk - - January 26, 2005
Subject: Amazing!
This is an amazing, high energy performance. The quality is, in my opinion, great. The only problem are fade-ins and fade-outs, but definitely a necessity. The Eleven is really full of tension. Death Don't is wonderful!

Notes

Recorded by Bear (Owsley) on a "Concord" cassette deck model unknown ...laid on an Ampex 90-minute cassette. Restoration & Preservation by Rob Eaton. Playback on a Tascam 122 mk111 (azimuth adjusted) > db 926 a/d converter > db 3000 s sample rate converter (variable speed) > panasonic 3800 DAT @ 44.1 kHz By Rob Eaton. DAT>HHb>CDR By Jim Wise. Rob Eaton's list reads(4.5, 067min, Sbd, A0D0, Cass M->Dat 0, 48k, Ampex C-90 Master Cass/no dolby->3800 x 0). Yes these disks I ripped with EAC are the actual CDRS that Jim Wise made. I re tracked this one it came to me as 3 tracks. D1t04(Cryptical Envelopment) Minor static @ :48 filtered to remove static, Pop @ 3:35 filtered to remove the pop. I had trouble tracking this one so if I tracked it wrong please correct it and lmk and give me a better tracked copy. Enjoy!!